IRIS Undergraduate Internship Orientation Week
May 25-June 1, 2008
NM Tech v3.1
Staff :
Rick Aster (NMT)
Andy Frassetto (U of A &
Alumnus)
Michael Hubenthal (IRIS)
Cathy Snelson (NMT)
Nelia Dunbar (NMT)
John Taber (IRIS)
Seth Stein (Northwestern U.)
Andy Goodlife (U. of Alabama)
Omar Marcillo (PASSCAL Inten)
Peter Mozley (NMT)
Student Assistants:
TBD (NMT Undergrad or Grad)
Special thanks to…
New Mexico Tech, and the Staff of the IRIS PASSCAL Instrument Center.
Day 1; Sunday, May 25
Arrival in Socorro:
Dorm check in
Dorm check in
Rick Aster’s House, 1207 Vista Drive
7:00 Introductions and Welcome Dinner (walking distance from campus)
Welcome and Introductions/Overview of IRIS Intern Program (MH, RA).
 Introductions activity
 IRIS overview
 Brief history of IRIS Internship Program
Day 2; Monday, May 26
7:30 Breakfast @ Fidel Student Services Center
IRIS PASSCAL Conference Room
8:30 Seismograms of the Day – (RA)
8:45 A Broad Overview of Seismology, Seismometry, and Some Cutting-edge Research
Topics (RA)
9:45 Break
10:00 Intro to earth structure (SS)
 seismic waves
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reflection, refraction
travel time plots & interpretation
gross earth structure
interpretation in terms of planetary evolution
11:45 PASSCAL Tour
12:00 Lunch @ Fidel Student Services Center
SPEARE Rm 116
1:00 Making Models from Data -- Geophysical Inverse Theory Introduction (RA)
 Linear algebra,
 Least square line fitting as an inverse problem
 Tomography as an inverse problem
2:00 Break
3:00 From IRIS Intern to All But Dissertation (AF)
 Realities of research: both as an intern and graduate student
 Selecting a graduate school
 Your brain pays: applying for scholarships and fellowships
 The mental leap from undergraduate to graduate life
 Growing an IRIS internship experience into a PhD
3:45 Unix Tutorials 1 to 6 (JT)
a. http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Teaching/Unix/
5:30 Staying connected during the internship (MH)
 Logging into IRIS.edu
 Message boards
 Blogs
6:00 Break
MSEC 202 Conference Room
6:30 Earthquake Prediction Night (SS) Pizza
 Gutenberg-Richter relation
 EQ recurrence
 attempts to predict
 seismic hazard modeling
 seismic hazard mitigation
Day 3; Tuesday, May 27
7:30 Breakfast @ Fidel Student Services Center
8:30 Shuttle leaves for Morning Field Trip - Earth is made of Rocks (PM, RA, et al.)
 Socorro Fault
 Quebradas Hike and lunch (2 Miles Easy)
1:30 Return from Field
SPEARE Rm 116
2:00 Seismogram of the Day (JT)
2:15 Basic Signal Processing w/MatLab (JT)
 Introduction to Matlab
 Introduction to spectral analysis and filtering
4:15 General Reflection and Refraction Theory (AG)
- Interval and rms velocity
- Reflection coefficient
- Attenuation
- Resolution
- Snell's law
- Sources
- Receivers
5:30 - Break
6:00 Dinner at El Sombrero
Day 4; Wednesday, May 28
7:30 Breakfast @ Fidel Student Services Center
8:30 Field Experiment (CS)
12:00 Lunch @ Fidel Student Services Center
SPEARE Rm 116
1:00 Seismograms of the Day (SS)
1:15 Earthquakes (SS)
 Location
 Magnitude
 elastic rebound
 relation to plate tectonics
 focal mechanisms
2:45 Break
4:00 Introduction to Marine Seismic Processing – ProMAX (AG)
- What is a Shot vs. a CMP gather
- Filtering
- Stacking
- Migration
6:00 Free Time
MSEC 202 Conference Room
6:30 Adventures in Volcano Seismology (OM) Brew Pub Takeout
Day 5; Thursday, May 29 - Mountain Day. Students need modest hiking gear,
jackets. (ND, RA, et al.)
7:30 Breakfast @ Fidel Student Services Center
8:45 Shuttles leave cafeteria for Magdalena Mountains Hike (7 miles, mostly downhill).
11:00 Magdalena Ridge Observatory Visit and Geology of Rifting Overview on the
Magdalena Crest
12:30 Lunch on the Magdalena Crest
2:30 Arrival at Hop Canyon (Magdalena). Van pickup.
 Magdalena Fault
4:00 Return to NMT; Free Time
Pool
6:00 Pool Night w/ cookout
7:30 Pool Talk: Geophysics in the oceans - Woodlark Basin (AG)
8:30 – 11:30 Movie Under the Stars
Day 6; Friday, May 30
7:30 Breakfast @ Fidel Student Services Center
SPEARE Rm 116
8:30 Seismogram of the Day (AF)
8:45 "Pop" Seismology: Receiver Functions and Shear Wave Splitting (AF)
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Broadband seismology 101
Seismic anisotropy
Shear wave splitting and mantle deformation
An example from British Columbia
Converted waves
Crustal thickness, Vp/Vs, and fabric from receiver functions
An example from the Sierra Nevada
9:45 Break
10:00 Intro to GMT (AG)
- Intro to a c-shell
- Basic plots
- Filtering data
12:00 Lunch @ Fidel Student Services Center
SPEARE Rm 116
1:00 Work-up of Refraction Data (CS)
3:00 Break
3:15 Maximizing your internship experience (AF/MH)
 Be self-reflective; Develop a plan of action, Maintain & monitor the plan, Evaluate
the plan
 Viewing the short-term and long-term benefits of the IRIS internship
 Common pitfalls in research experiences
 Tips for a productive internship
 Presenting your research clearly"
4:15 Career Panel (RA)
Cathy Snelson – Seismology
Others TBD
San Lorenzo Canyon
6:00 Evening cookout, bonfire and party (All Invited)
Lost treasure and a history of the Socorro, NM area w/ Paul Harden
Day 7; Saturday, May 31 – Breakfast and Depart
Airport runs - TBA